


Fleeting Bubbles

by MoonlitLagoon



Category: Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi | Spirited Away
Genre: Acceptance, Epilogue, F/M, If you truly love someone, Kamikakushi, Memories, Regret, Short One Shot, Spirited Away - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-06
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21695797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonlitLagoon/pseuds/MoonlitLagoon
Summary: Haku told her not to look back, but he wants her to. So badly.
Relationships: Haku | Nigihayami Kohakunushi/Ogino Chihiro
Comments: 4
Kudos: 137





	Fleeting Bubbles

**Author's Note:**

> Finals week is killing me and rather than stress about chapters for longer works I really needed to write something short to keep me alive. Chapters for KH, DBH, Uncharted 4 and FE3H will be updated soon after my finals are over. Thanks for your patience!
> 
> Refer to end notes regarding this one shot please.

Names are powerful, binding things. 

No one knew this better than Haku, who had lost his entire identity during his employment to Yubaaba. Or rather, his enslavement.

Had it not been for Chihiro, he wasn’t certain he’d ever have gotten free…

Haku watched Chihiro leap over the river, the memories of the past few days a rushing stream in his mind. The dread that had pooled in his stomach when he’d spotted her on the bridge that first day. The wash of relief he’d felt when she’d been employed and guaranteed her safety. The inexplicable urge to help her in any way he could. To dry her tears before they had a chance to spill down her cheeks.

He didn’t truly know her. At least he’d thought so. Then she’d gone and pulled him out of the waves he’d sunk beneath, shattering Yubaaba’s spell by simply uttering his true name.

Chihiro raced down the verdant slope and crossed the barrier separating the spirit world from the human world. Running back to her parents and the life she’d left behind. He’d told her not to look back. 

Her short ponytail swung with every step, the ribbon in her hair catching the sunlight like a glint of amethyst. He could sense Zeniiba’s magic radiating off it, sparkling with the bonds of friendship Chihiro had forged. It would serve to ward off the corrosion of her memories, but not for long. In time, like all things, soon even the hair tie would be nothing but elastic. 

And that time was drawing closer with each step she took. Haku felt his breath catch in his throat. He could stop her. Make her look back before it was too late.

He’d promised they would meet again someday. But the moment Chihiro went through the tunnel, she would forget the time she’d spent in the spirit world. She’d forget all about him, too. It’s what happened to humans. They were transient creatures, unable to float between worlds without losing everything they were. And if she remained here? Haku’s fist bunched at his side. There was no telling what Yubaaba would do to her.

Yet he clung to the selfish hope that those memories, nestled like birds in Chihiro’s subconscious, would rouse themselves and take flight.

His lips parted, moving to shape her name in a voiceless puff of air.

No, Chihiro deserved better. She should be free to choose her own life - fleeting though it may be. If she never remembered him, well, at least she was no longer trapped like he was without a home to return to.

With a wry smile, the dragon boy tipped his face up to the breeze. He wanted to remember this moment in time, encapsulate it in a bubble and stow it away forever. For the both of them.

His shoulders drooped. Right. Yubaaba was waiting.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos are always appreciated <3
> 
> I've been writing a fic based off of this one shot for a while now and hope to release it soon. For now I'd like to leave something complete on my works for once rather than have all of these continued stories :P As for an estimate of when I'll start releasing it, it'll be some time after I complete my DBH fic since that one's been updating for a long time and I'm finally wrapping it up. Of course, I'm updating my other fics as I write DBH so Spirited Away will have to wait. I hope you can understand.
> 
> According to Japanese folklore and legends, people who were spirited away (kamikaskuhi) have no memory of what they experienced during their days in the spirit realm. They were originally spirited away by a god to learn a lesson. Miyazaki intended for the ending to illustrate this concept of Chihiro having forgotten everything while keeping intact her growth as an individual. However, the English dub presents a more positive outlook on the ordeal, perhaps even hinting that she never lost her memories. This oneshot is based on the original Japanese belief in forgetting your experience in the spirit realm. Although Zeniba says that memories are never truly forgotten, Chihiro may never recover them. She’s a human after all. As Haku is a kami, he would expect her to forget everything. For further reading, please refer to MisoRamen’s research paper on the very subject.


End file.
